Dojo Instructors
Mirko Milic Sensei - 4th Dan
(Shinzo Dojo Canberra)
Mirko holds a ‘Yondan’ (4th Degree black belt) and has 38 years experience. He’s been training at Shinzo Dojo Canberra since 2017 and is the head instructor.
Mirko, originally from Wollongong, started training in Kyokushin Karate in 1981. He joined the Wollongong Dojo which was operating at the now defunct Downtown Gym and achieved his coveted black belt in 1991 under instructor Sam Gerovasilis. Mirko has fought in many full contact tournaments as a middleweight fighter and participated in numerous Kyokushin seminars, camps and gradings over the years . Mirko was a senior instructor for many years in the Wollongong Dojo and later ran the Shellharbour Dojo with fellow instructor Glen Fuz.
Having trained and competed during the Kyokushin ‘golden years’ of the 1980’s and 90’s, Mirko understands the true value of hard and consistent training and is a strong believer that Kyokushin is a way of life and that every training session should be better than the one before. ‘Kaizen’ or continuous improvement is something he strongly advocates.
Mirko has also participated in many other fighting arts including Judo and Kickboxing and is a big fan of AFL. He holds a Bachelor of Business degree and is married with 3 children and works at Canberra Toyota.
Mirko works closely with Sensei Brendon Cunningham who recently relocated back to Canberra. Both instructors have a combined experience of over 70 years!
Mirko and Brendon are also assisted by other black belt instructors Keith Nichol 2nd Dan and Timothy Liu 1st Dan.
Mirko encourages anyone interested in learning a genuine and effective Japanese martial art to contact the dojo and give Kyokushin a try.
Osu!
Brendon Cunningham Sensei - 4th Dan
(Shinzo Dojo Canberra)
I was born in New Zealand in a small town called Hawkes Bay. I found and fell in love with this amazing style in 1979 and started training with Vern and Gary Daniels.
After a short stint living in Frankston, Victoria, my family and I moved back to Hawkes Bay New Zealand, my home town. It was a year later that I found a small run down old house on warren street in Hastings called Bj's Dojo. The Instructor was a tall man wearing a black Belt with two gold bars. For me it was the start of a friendship that would last a lifetime. His name was Senpai Tony Caldwell (Pinky) and we forged a bond for over 10 years. Senpai Tony took me in as Uchi Deshi for three years living in and training and running the Warren street Dojo. We did many things in training that you would never see in a Dojo today i.e. punching the power poles, Knuckle jumps on the road and Punching to the face ( this is something I will never forget). Sensei Tony would be so proud to see the things that I have achieved since he passed. It was my time training with Senpai at Bj's dojo where I learnt to never give up. Senpai Tony trained me to 5 Hawkes Bay titles and 2 NZ National titles as a young Karateka.
I relocated back to Australia in 2006 and since that time I have competed in tournaments and won a 3rd and a 4th at Queensland State Championships and 2nd at the Victorian State Championships. I gave it one last match in Griffith as an old karateka. In kyokushin you can't win them all but you can give it everything you have.
It is our motto to never give up, it is all about your story, the journey you take but most of all, it's the people you meet along the way that take on your journey with you.
I have trained in Kyokushin for Over 39 years and I am still going strong. I have trained with some amazing students and teachers around the world who share the same passion and love of this art that we do. Kyokushin is ingrained my heart and my soul.